Closure for containers



Feb. 26, 1929. 1,7o3,`72

T. E. AUD

CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS i1ed` April 15, 1927 Patented Feb. 26, 1929.

THOMAS EDGAB AUD, OF HEBNDON, VIRGINIA.

CLOSURE FOR CONTAINEB S.

Application filed April 15, 1927. Serial No. 184,163.

This nvention relates to a closure for containers, particularly those, such as air, gas or liquid holding containers, or other similar containers, having a mouth or opening required to be sealed tight against the exit or entrance of fluids.

In the use of various kinds of containers which should be proof against the escape or admission of air, gas, water or other fluid,

it is desirable to have a seal or closure for.

the mouth or entrance and exit opening which may be closed or sealed in an hermeti- *cally tight manner. In the case, for eX- ample, of the gas bags or ballonets of airships and other containers it is also desirable to have a closure which, while being abso lutely leak-proof when in sealed condition, will pernit of a rapid and convenient unsealing action for inspecton or repairs of the bag, or for other purposes.

The object of my invention is to provide a closure which fulfills these requirements and which may be constructed and applied for use at a comparatively low cost.

In the accompanying drawing,-

Figure 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a container, such as a gas bag, having a mouth or opening provided with a closure constructed in accordance with my invention, one of the sealing strips being represented as partly severed from a wall of the bag and turned backward to better disclose the Construction.

Figure 2 is a plan View of the bag with the closure members in position to seal the bag.

Figure 3 is a section taken substantially on line 3-3 of Figure 2. i

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view through the sealed closure on an enlarged scale.

Figure 5 is a view also on an enlarged scale looking toward one end of the closure.

Figure G is a sectional View on a greatly enlarged scale taken substantially on line 6-6 of Figure 5. i

Figure 7 is a longitudinal section through the runner.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, 1 designates the body of a container, having at one end a mouth or opening 2 which is shown as provided with means, constructed in accordance With my invention, for scaling it in an hermetically tight manner. The container here shown may be a gas bag or ballonet, such as employed in aircraft or for other purposes, o`r it may be a bag for holding any kind of fluid for any purpose. Thebag may be constructed of rubber, rubberized cloth or other fluid mpermeable material. The closure may be made, however, of any suitable material, and of any form' or shape, or for any' purpose, and I therefore do not limit the invention in any of these respects.

The walls of the container at the mouth or opening 2 are provided with closure members or strips 3 and 4, which are preferabl made of elastic or semi-elastic materia They may be made, for example, of partially vulcanized rubber, or rubber and fabric, or rubber and any other suitable more or less flexible or resilient reinforcing means.

.These strips are designed to be moved apart for a mouth opening action and 'to be brought together for a mouth sealing or closing action, and said strips are provided with opposed contact faces 5 and 6 adapted to closely engage each other for the scaling action. v

As shown, one of the strips, as the strip is provided with a longitudinally extend ng groove or recess 7 opening through its scaling face 5 and which is preferably ol hexagonal or other angular form in crosssection, its side adjacent the face 5 being cut away and shaped ,to form a flaring entrance 8 to the groove 7 which opens directl through the face 5. The other strip 4 s provi ed with a rib or tongue 9 for interlooking and sealng engagement with the groove or recess 7, and which is of a crosssectional form conformin to that of said groove or recess. The strip 3 is made sufficiently elastic so that its portions lying at opposite sides of and forming the walls of the groove 7 may have relative outward and inward movements, to expand and contract the entrance- 8 of the groove. The groove 7 and rib or tongue 9 are adapted to be interlocked by movement of the strips toward one another under pressure applied to said strips, and are adapted to be released by a movement of the strips in an outward direction or away from each other. The rib or tongue 9 while made of more or less elastic material should have a certain degree of rigdity in order to maintain the interlocking connection when the parts are interlocked. For this purpose'I preferably rovide a reinforcement 10 for the rib, w ich ing groove strips will cause,

may be of T-sha e, as shown, and molded in the strip and ri at the time the same are formed.

For the purpose of moving the strips toward one another and compressing them for the interloc-king action, a slide or runner 11 is provided. This may be made of metal or other suitable material and comprises a body which is open at each end and in general of U-shaped cross-section, said body comprisng what may, for convenience, be termed top and bottom walls 12 and 13 and an outer side being cut away or provided with a slot 15 formed by flanges 16 projecting inwardly from the walls 12 and 13. This slide or runner is designed to embrace the strips 3 and 4 with its top and bottom walls 12 and 13 lying parallel with the top and bottom surfaces of said strips, the wall 14 hearing against the outer sides of the strips and the flanges 16 engaging the inner sides of the strips to hold the runner from lateral displacement, the slot 15 providing for the passage of the adjacent portions of the walls of the bag and admitting of the movement of the runner without interference there-from. Carried 'by the top and bottom portions of the runner are bearing rollers 17 which extend cross-wise of the runner and project into the channel thereof. These rollers are adapted to serve as anti-friction cam or wedge surfaces to bear against the top and bottom faces of the stri s 3 and 4 to force said strips together for t e'sealing and locking action in the movement of the runner in one direction along said strips. The rollers are suitably positioned upon the runner so as to reduce the depth of the runner at one point, so that, assuming the strips to be separated, a movement of the runner along the through the action of the rollers, a pressure of the strips together, by which means the tongue 9 will be forced into interlocking engagement with the groove 7, the walls of the mouth portion 8 of the groove expanding sufliciently to admit' the rib. When the -rib is engaged with the groove 7 the faces 5 and 6 of the strips will lie in contact and will be held locked against separation by the engagement between the rib and groove, the rib projecting across and additionally sealing the joint be tween the sealing faces and the angular formation of the rib and groove providing additional scaling surfaces to effectually prevent the outward passage of fluid from the container through the sealed closure. The slide 11 is provided with a knob or handle 18 for moving it along the strips.

For the purpose of efiecting a close clampengagement between the walls of the 7 and the rib 9, and to prevent any possibility of the separation of the stripsor relaxation of the engaging surfaces suffiwall 14, the inner side wall ciently to prevent leakage of fluid under pressure, I provide means for compressing the walls of the undercut portions of the groove against the sides of the undercut portion of the rib. To this end the strip 3 is provided with a channel 19 opening at its base through the face 5 and extending the length of the strip in close proximity to the inner wall of the undercut portion of the groove 7. A spreader 20 is movable in the channel 19 and is preferably longitudinally tapered or wedge-shaped so that, at any point along the channel which it occupies, the elastic portion of the strip 3 between the groove 7 and channel 19 forming the wall oi' one side of the undercut portion of the groove will be forced toward the outer wall of the groove; thus` contracting said groove in an obvious manner. The spreader 20 is connected at its forward end by a link or other connection 21 with an arm 22 carried by the runner 11 and arranged to lie in advance of the runner in its direction of scaling movement. The spreader will occupy that'portion of the channel in that portion of the strip 3 embraced by the runner, and its tapered or wedge formation is such as to efiect a contraction of the groove after the strips have been brought together and the tongue and groove interlocked. It will be observed that the outer wall of the groove lying opposite the spreader 20 will be backed by the wall 14 of the runner, and that consequently no outward lateral deflection of said Wall or rib 9 can occur during the groove contracting action of the spreader, so that a positive wedging engagement between the walls of the groove and rib will be instituted. A comparatively stifl cord or cable 23 is attached to the spreader 20 for convenience in retracting it.

In practice, while the runner may be of materially less length than the length of the sealing strips, the spreader 20 and cord or cable 23 are jointly of a length greater than the length of thestrips, wherebythe channel 19 will be filled by the spreader and cord from end to end thereof when the runner is in its advance position in its sealing action and the free end of the cord will project suiliciently beyond the opposite ends of the strips to allow it to be gripped and pulled for a spreader retracting action. When the parts are in scaling position as just described the spreader and cable will cooperate with the outer` wall of the runner to hold the groove contracted, as will be readily understood. When the container is sealed, therefore, the spreader 20 will operate as a supplcmental looking device to.

hold the groove contracted and obviate any liability of separation or displacement from sealing position of the scaling members, so that the closure will be kept hermetically the runner is out of engagement with or displaced at one extreme end of the strips, so that the mouth of the bag can be completely or partly opened as desired, the movement of the runner toward the oppositeends of the strip, which may be etfected by the operator pushing on the handle 18, will cause those portions of the strips successively engaged by the rollers 17 to be forced together for the sealing and lockng action. It will be observed that the arm 22 connected with the spreader 20 lies in advance of the runner and in thespace between the strips as the runner is moved along, whereby the spreader 20 will be drawn along with the runner for the supplemental locking action without any interference by the arm 22 with the strip closing action. At the end of the closing movement of the runner the runner 20 will be in the advanced position shown in Figure 2 and the arm 22 will lie beyond the adjacent side of the bag. With the runner in this position the spreader 20 and cable 23 will occupy the chanhel 19 throughout its length, thus maintaining the lockng connection against any pressure which may fall upon it. The cord or cable 23 is adapted to be engaged to permit the spreader 20 to be pulled rearwardly on the reverse or unsealing motion of the runner. In this reverse movement the pressure. of the spreader on the walls of the groove is gradually removed allowing the arm 22 to enter between the meeting faces of the strips to sli'ghtly spread them apart, whereupon the free ends of the strips may be engaged and pulled apart to disconnect the groove an rib and permit the strips to be entirely separated for a full unclosing or unsealing action.

The walls 12 and 13 of the runner may be provided, as clearly shown in Figure 7, with wedge or cam surfaces 24 for the purpose of pressing the elosure strips 3 and 4 together, the rollers 17, however, extending peripherally inwardly beyond such surfaces so as to ensure an easy movement of the runner over the strips; the rollers acting to press the strips to a greater degree together for the interlocking action between the rib and groove. I may, however, dispense entirely with the cam or wedge surfaees 24 and use the rollers only. In practice, the strips 3 and 4: may be wholl free from connection with each other t roughout their lengths, adapting the mouth of the ba to be opened or closed by movements in which the walls of the bags to which the strips are attached are movable to equal degrecs, from side to side thereof, toward and from each other. The strips may, however, be united at one end, beyond the adjacent end of the mouth, in which event the walls of the bag will open and close in V-fashion. These and other changes or modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims may be made, as conditions or circumstances ma require in the use of the invention upon dit ferent types of containers or receptacles.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim 1. A container having a mouth or opening, sealing strips attached to and extending along the margns of the mouth or opening, said strips being made of more or less elastic material and having sealing faces, the sealing faceof one strip bein provided with a groove and the sealing ace of the other strip having a tongue to interlock with said groove, a runner movable along the strips for foreing them together and causing the rib to interlock with the groove, and means movable with the runner for coaction therewith to compress the walls of the groove against the rib.

2. A container having a mouth or opening, sealing strips attached to and extending along the margins of the mouth or opening, said strips having sealing faces, one. of said strips being provided with a groove having a contracted entrance opening through its sealing face' and the other strip having a tongueto interloek with said groove, a runner movable along the strips to force the same together and cause the tongue to in-` terlock with the groove, and a spreader movable with the runner and coacting therewith to compress the walls of the groove against the tongue.

3. A container having a mouth or opening, sealing strips attached to and extending along the margins of the mouth or opening, said strips being made of more or less elastic material and provided with sealing faces, one strip having a groove opening through its sealing face and the other strip having a tongue projecting 'from its sealing face to interlock with said groove, a runner novable along the strips for pressing them together and efecting a sealing and lockng action between then-, and means movable with the runner and coacting therewith for conpressmg the walls of the groove against the sidcs of the tongue.

4. A contamer having a mouth or opening sealing strips of more or less flexible material attaehed to and extending along the margns of the mouth or opening, said strips having sealing faces, the face of one strip being provided with a groove having a contracted mouthand the sealing face of the other strip having a tongue with a contracted base portion, a runner movable along said strips and provided with means for forcing the strips together and causing the tongue to interloclc with the groove, the strip having the groove being provided with a longitudinal channel parallel With one wall of the groove, a spreader attached to the runner and movable in said channel and coacting with the runner to force the walls of the mouth of the groove into sealing contact with the surfaces of the contracted base portion of the rib, and a channel filling and 

